Open AccessC oxiella burnetii : turning hostility into a home
Author(s) -
Moffatt Jennifer H.,
Newton Patrice,
Newton Hayley J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
cellular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.542
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1462-5822
pISSN - 1462-5814
DOI - 10.1111/cmi.12432
Subject(s) - coxiella burnetii , biology , effector , vacuole , intracellular parasite , secretion , microbiology and biotechnology , q fever , intracellular , pathogen , cytoplasm , biochemistry
Summary C oxiella burnetii , the causative agent of the human disease Q fever, is a unique intracellular bacterial pathogen. Coxiella replicates to high numbers within a pathogen‐derived lysosome‐like vacuole, thriving within a low pH , highly proteolytic and oxidative environment. In 2009, researchers developed means to axenically culture C oxiella paving the way for the development of tools to genetically manipulate the organism. These advances have revolutionized our capacity to examine the pathogenesis of C oxiella . In recent years, targeted and random mutant strains have been used to demonstrate that the D ot/ I cm type IV secretion system is essential for intracellular replication of C oxiella . Current research is focused towards understanding the unique cohort of over 130 effector proteins that are translocated into the host cell. Mutagenesis screens have been employed to identify effectors that play important roles for the biogenesis of the C oxiella ‐containing vacuole and intracellular replication of C oxiella . A surprisingly high number of effector mutants demonstrate significant intracellular growth defects, and future studies on the molecular function of these effectors will provide great insight into the pathogenesis of C oxiella . Already, this expanse of new data implicates many eukaryotic processes that are targeted by the arsenal of C oxiella effectors including autophagy, apoptosis and vesicular trafficking.